Thehistory of the Jews inTajikistan (Tajik: яҳудиёни тоҷик/یهودیونی تاجیک Hebrew: יהודים טג'יקים) is long and varied. Many of the Tajik Jews were originallyBukharan Jews.[1]
Jews first arrived in the eastern part of theEmirate of Bukhara, in what is todayTajikistan, in the 2nd century BC.[citation needed] After theCommunists came to power they organized the country intorepublics, including Tajikistan, which was first formed as an autonomous republic withinUzbekistan in 1924, and in 1929 became a full-fledged republic.
In an effort to develop Tajikistan,Soviet authorities encouraged migration, including thousands of Jews from neighboringUzbekistan. The Ashkenazi population of the country grew to almost 10,000 by 1989. Most Jews settled inDushanbe, thecapital ofTajikistan, where they opened theDushanbe synagogue. DuringWorld War II, a second wave ofAshkenazic Jews migrated to Tajikistan.
In theSoviet Union, including Tajikistan,beginning in the 1970s, Jews who were able, began toemigrate toIsrael, as well as to theUnited States. By the late 1980s, many of Tajikistan's Jewshad left. After thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan gained independence and the country fell into a state ofcivil war between the government and Islamist forces. Continuous military conflict kept Tajik Jews in severe poverty and in fear for their lives.[2] In 1992-1993 most of the country's Jews wereevacuated to Israel or the US. Between 1989 and 2002, all but 197 of the country's almost 15,000 Jews emigrated, largely to Israel.[2] Those Jews who emigrated were stripped of their Tajik citizenship and no longer hold a connection to the country.
As of the 2010 census, there are 36 Jews left in Tajikistan. All but two are Ashkenazi; the others are Bukharan, according to the 2010 census.[3] They are mostly elderly, poor, and subjected to Antisemitic attacks and persecution. One tragic event in the community was the murder of journalistMeirkhaim Gavrielov. The Jewish community is moribund, reportedly barely able to function, and relies on aid from world Jewish organizations to survive. The majority of the country's Jews live inDushanbe, which hosts the country's last synagogue.[2] In January 15, 2021 the last Jew Jura Abaev of the city ofKhujand, Tajikistan, died.[4]
Tajikistan's Jewish population was almost non-existent in 1926, and it increased rapidly between 1926 and 1970. In 1970, Tajikistan's Jewish population was over fifty times larger than it was in 1926, numbering almost fifteen thousand people. Tajikistan's Jewish population continued growing between 1970 and 1989, but at a much slower rate. Since thecollapse of Communism virtually all of the Jews in Tajikistan left andmoved to other countries between 1989 and 2002.[5] Most of the Tajik Jews whoemigrated moved to Israel.[5] In the late 1980s, around two-thirds of the population were Ashkenazi, and around one-third were Bukharian.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 275 | — |
| 1939 | 5,166 | +1778.5% |
| 1959 | 12,435 | +140.7% |
| 1970 | 14,627 | +17.6% |
| 1979 | 14,697 | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 14,580 | −0.8% |
| 2002 | 197 | −98.6% |
| 2010 | 36 | −81.7% |
| 2019 | 23 | −36.1% |
Source:
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As of 2006, theDushanbe synagogue was the last remaining synagogue in the country, and was actively being used for worship. However, the Tajik government ordered the local Jewish community to vacate the synagogue, which was going to be demolished for a newpresidential palace. After the destruction of the community'smikvah,kosher butcher, and several classrooms in February 2006, the demolition was temporarily halted due to protests from the Israeli and US embassies, as well as from worldwide world Jewish communities. The synagogue was finally razed by municipal court order in the end of June 2008, and the community was allocated a site in the western part of Dushanbe to build a new synagogue with financing from international Jewish organizations and private donors. Because of this incident, many Israelis and Americans of Tajik Jewish descent have negative views toward the Government of Tajikistan.
The new synagogue of Dushanbe was opened on 4 May 2009 in an existing building donated for this purpose by Hasan Assadullozoda, a Tajikistani businessman and the brother-in-law of PresidentEmomalii Rakhmon.[10][11] The opening ceremony was attended by U.S. AmbassadorTracey Ann Jacobson, Tajik Deputy Culture Minister Mavlon Mukhtorov, and Imam Habibullo Azamkhonov.[10][12]
History of the Jews in Asia | |
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| States with limited recognition | |
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